


Night Visitors

by Flick (raynon)



Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys - My Chemical Romance (Album)
Genre: Animal Death, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:08:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25497337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raynon/pseuds/Flick
Summary: The Killjoys find out one of Ghoul's fears.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	Night Visitors

**Author's Note:**

> just a couple of guys bein' dudes

The Girl poked at the fire with a long stick, humming to herself. In truth, she loved the nights that they got to spend outside, even if one of the AM’s tires was flat. But she’d take the desert sky over the diner’s cracked ceiling any time, or the oddly melodic echoes of wildlife and the crackling wood and the Killjoys,  _ her _ Killjoys, having a reason to stay circled together like this. It was just a different dynamic: everyone simply did their own things, but they still did them together out here.

Kobra and Ghoul focused on rationing dinner for everyone that night. Party and Jet focused on going over zone maps, marking off places they’ve recently searched for supplies and danger fields. Which places had new BLi surveillance cameras.

From the corner of the Girl’s vision, something tiny and green skittered about in the sand. It got closer to Jet, but when he noticed the strange thing, he just flicked it away, despite being close to the size of his hand. It rolled once and recovered, and shifted closer to Ghoul instead.

Ghoul nearly jumped out of his skin. The others thought he’d hissed, but it turned out to be an elongated  _ “Shit!” _ He’d crawled backward, bumping into Kobra and didn’t stop until he was clambered on his back.

“Dude...” Kobra rolled his eyes, pushing a small fork around a can of Power Pup.

The Girl cocked her head to the side. “What is that?” Her back straightened, smiling in curiosity.

“Oh, s’a scorpion. Big little fucker, though, ain’t it?” Party folded his hands in his lap.

“The thing’s a fuckin’ venom-shootin’ murderer, that’s what it is!” Ghoul growled. He tensed up when Kobra reached to pat his shoulder.

“Venom? That’s like poison, right? But not like Party Poison?” The Girl smirked at her joke.

Party chuckled. “Nah, I don’t glow in the dark. That’d be neon if I could.” He ruffled her hair. “Scorpions got this special thing, these, uh, cells inside ‘em. I guess it’s a bug thing, but I think radiation’s been changin’ ‘em for a while now, too. Don’t think they were always that big.”

The Girl hummed pensively. “So, uh, how bad is their venom stuff? Does it burn your skin?”

“I don’t think it hurts on your skin. But look at the tail a little closer...” Party leaned in closer to her face and pointed out the creature’s tail. “See how it looks all pointy at the end there? That means it can poke through your skin and get to your blood! That’s where it does the real damage!”

“Poison.” Jet used his warning voice.

Even so, her eyes were alight with excitement. “That’s so scary! I love it. Can we use it as a weapon against the Dracs?”

“Sorry, but it’s not nice to use living animals as weapons. But I can see where you’re coming from,” Jet answered softly.

“Why? We use Kobra against ‘em sometimes.” Party got a glob of Power Pup splattered against his nose. “Dude, don’t be wasteful.”

“Don’t be wasteful...” Kobra repeated mockingly, scrunching his face.

The scorpion turned one way, and the other, as if surveying the ‘joys. It settled in Ghoul’s direction, but didn’t move forward.

“Fuck, _fuck_ , Destroya, it’s looking at me...” Ghoul hopped off of Kobra’s back and backtracked to the AM. He clambered up onto the roof of the car in a feat of acrobatic strength. “You can’t congeal MY blood tonight, you fucking crustacean!”

Party opened his mouth to speak, then decided what he wanted to say wasn’t worth it. He just sighed and looked to Jet.

“What d’you want me to do?” Jet shrugged. When Party continued to stare at him, he sucked air through his teeth. “Know what, Poison? Your fellow Killjoy is going through a tough time right now, you should be more supportive of him.” He stood up and sauntered over to the AM as well, crossing his legs as he sat on the hood. He extended a hand to Ghoul to hold. “It’s okay, Fun, the scorpion won’t hurt you from over here.”

Kobra snorted in laughter, but tried to hide it with a cough.

“Sugar, it wasn’t gonna hurt you to begin with!” Party tried to rationalize, gesturing to the scorpion. “Look, it hasn’t even moved. Please get off the roof--”

“But it could’ve!” Ghoul cut him off. “If you get stung, I legally have the right to rub it in your face.”

“According to what court, dumbass?” Kobra joined in.

“The Witch! I dunno.” Ghoul threw his free hand up into the air. “I’m just tryin’ to say, I’m not gettin’ within ten feet of that thing.”

While they continued to banter, the Girl continued to stare at the scorpion. It had finally moved again, twitching its tail, and scuttled to the left, back over to Jet’s maps. Squinting, she twisted the stick in her hand a little before pulling it out of the fire. For a moment, she stared at the burning end until the tiny flame shrunk into the glowing ember.

She’d seen them all afraid before, but somehow they all stayed calm through their fear. They never ran from Korse before, and they always put their heads together when supplies were getting low. Seeing Ghoul this way was different. She wanted to ask him why he didn’t just kill it if he was so eager to keep distance from it.

Instinct drove her, though, and in one swift move, she brought the burning end of her stick down on the scorpion’s back. It tried stinging the stick in defense, then squirmed a bit, and stopped moving altogether. “...I think I fixed the problem.”

The four fell silent for a moment as they just watched her look between them innocently. “What?” she asked.

“Oh, nice! Dessert!” Kobra perked up.

“You’re disgusting,” Party chided.

“Well, it’s better than eating this shit.” Kobra walked on his knees and borrowed her stick to skewer the scorpion. ”Ghoul, come on back and finish this can for me, would ya?”

Ghoul held his breath. “...Okay, well, it didn’t  _ have _ to die...” he thought aloud, but got back down. With Jet following close behind him, he shivered and huddled around the fire to regain his warmth. The rest of the Power Pup was passed to him.

“Did I do it wrong?” The Girl murmured.

“Nah, sweetheart. You rescued me,” Ghoul assured her. “Here, open up.” The Girl giggled and held her mouth open so he could feed her. “My little hero.”

Party leaned back and stared up at the stars. “I can’t wait to get home...” he mumbled, but smiled anyway.

The Girl’s eyes widened. “What are you talking about? It’s great out here!”

“Yeah...maybe it is.” Party laid himself down in the sand.

**Author's Note:**

> party's inner thoughts: scorpions are arachnids, and wtf does he mean it can't congeal his blood TONIGHT??? what about other nights?????
> 
> hey does anyone else remember that time frank ran and hid from a tarantula?


End file.
